Lost and Broken
by Lizzie Hyrule
Summary: AU Zemira Hayden's spirit has been broken. She becomes Zelda Harknian to run from her old life. Now, she doesn't know what's in store for her, but she only wishes for someone to lessen her pain and make the past fade away. Collab with SilverPaopu
1. Prologue

**A/N: Don't kill me for deleting my stories! *dodges thrown plate* Megan… I know that was you! *glare***

**Maybe I will eventually re-edit and improve my stories… the thing is… I needed a fresh start… So… yeah…. Say hello to a new evolution of my writing! I will be writing an AU Fanfiction… just to see how it plays out. This time; I won't quit and I will hit that 'complete' button. You have my word as an author! No matter how much writer's block I have to muddle through… I will finish.**

**NOW! Onto the actual story! I welcome you to my new evolution of fanfics! Please enjoy! …and leave a review? ;)**

**Lost and Broken**

_Prologue_

Zemira Hayden danced her heart out with her husband. Why you may ask? She did this because she felt it was the only freedom she had left.

She had once loved Vaati, falling for his charm and good looks. She had become infatuated with his amazing smile. The smile that made her weak in the knees. Her once made her laugh, made her happy, truly she had felt she had found the one person she was meant to hold, to love, and to cherish. So, when he got down on one knee, she had said yes. Standing in front of all her friends and family, she had said her vows, giving meaning to each and every word she said. She finally said, 'I do'… but as it turned out…. Those two simple words would break her spirit.

* * *

><p>His first order of business: Establish his power over Zemira. How did he do it? It started with him ordering Zemira around like she was nothing more than a slave. Then, like a slave master, beat her whenever she disobeyed a command.<p>

Second order of business: Organize weekly events. He forced Zemira to have a schedule, listing when she would clean, and how she would do it among many other things. She had specific meals and times for each day of the week. He had even scheduled when they would have 'alone time' in which Zemira quickly learned that she could not resist any advances at all, and she had to respond, making it seem pleasant. And once more, whenever Zemira did something 'wrong', she would be beaten.

His final order of business: Take everything she had to increase his fortune, and kill her when his job had been completed.

Zemira had fought for a full year, and on the day of their anniversary, Vaati had succeeded in fully breaking her spirit and body, the only thing he had to do, was steal all of what she was worth in money. She survived that long only from her co-workers, who soon became her best friends. One of her friends, named Impa, happened to be the C.E.O of the company Zemira worked in. The other one was Midna, her secretary, on the same level as Zemira.

Only two months after her 'Happy' anniversary, both women could no longer stand the make-up she had to put all over her face and arms to hide the bruises. They knew the stories, and they decided to act. Vaati was one of those individuals who couldn't be stopped and was completely ruthless. So, they did the natural thing and dug up all the dirt they could find.

Vaati was experienced with spouse abuse as it seemed. He had had two other wives who had died 'on coincidence' leaving Vaati with all of their riches. From this and more, they understood that Zemira was no longer safe, and so, they formulated a plan.

* * *

><p>Zemira hoped her overly large purse from Midna was not too gaudy… but it seemed the bag held everything she needed. She just had to excuse herself to the ladies room.<p>

The atmosphere of the party had no effect of distracting Zemira. She danced with this… this… _thing _that was supposed to be her husband, for only one second longer.

"Excuse me dear, but it appears I must make a trip to the ladies' room" She said meekly, yet calmly.

"Hurry back _dearie_ we wouldn't want these people to think that we don't love one another now would we?" He snarled into Zemira's ear, filling the poor girl with fear.

Zemira grabbed her purse and went out into the hall from the ball room. Honestly, the business parties were seemingly always held in these prestiged hotels, so all businessmen could show off.

Holding no feeling but fear in her head, Zemira made it to the room that Midna had bought for this day. She found her key, and darted inside, locking the door behind her. She found the suit case with her new outfits, and her appearance changing articles.

She first got out of her long dress laying it neatly in the other empty suitcase. She then put on tons of that tanning substitute lotion, darkening her skin. Next, she put on a pair of ripped up black stockings, with a leather mini-skirt. For her top, she wore a punk studded tank, taking out a black leather jacket to put on later. Next, she went into the bathroom, and did something she never thought she would do. First she bleached her chocolaty blonde hair, having it come out to be a soft, golden color. Next, she cut her basic, waist length hair and made it reach just under her chest area, then; she parted some of her hair to the front of her head, and cut it so that she would have bangs. The last step she took before putting on the leather jacket and packing her suitcases was pulling out all of her forged documents, making sure they were all there. And, everything was.

She glanced at herself in the mirror, putting on her jacket and a pair of sunglasses. She admired her work. It took her around thirty minutes to make sure everything was perfect. She then counted the ten thousand dollars Impa and Midna gave her, for the plane tickets, an apartment and starting out to get furniture. Everything had fallen into place. She was so close to freedom.

Once she stepped out of that hotel and faced the Hyrule City airport, Zemira Hayden no longer existed. Zelda Harkinian had taken her place.


	2. Chapter 1

**A/N: (L) Hello there! I have a bit of an announcement! This is officially a collaboration! With whom you may ask? Why... My good old friend SilverPaopu! :D She'll be doing the 'Link' parts of this story... I still have Zelda's parts...Anything you want to add my sister?**  
>(S) Not really my dear friend :)<br>**(L) You always were quiet... Well to the story?**  
>(S) Let's get to it! :D<br>**(L) Disclaimer? XD**  
>(S) lol yeah we don't own anything... :D<br>**(L) *facepalm***  
>(S) *smiles* :D<br>**(L) Disclaimer: I don't own Zelda and neither does SilverPaopu! *If I owned Zelda... Link would have a hell of a lot more shirtless cutscenes...***  
>(S) *tries to not burst out laughing*<p>

* * *

><p><strong>Lost and Broken<strong>  
><em>Chapter one<em>

Zelda Harkinian walked through the aisles of the Goodwill store blankly, hidden by her oversize grey sweatshirt and black yoga pants. Anyone who knew her before would never have known her to wear something so… sporty… but then again… anyone who knew her before… did not know her at all. Only two people knew her name now, as she hid from the world… the same name she had changed only three days before.

As Zelda looked through all the cheap articles of clothing, gathering anything that looked halfway decent along the way, she kept her head covered by her hood, feeling that being on the opposite side of the country was not far enough from where she once was. The place where her seemingly perfect life had shattered, breaking her spirit and nearly causing her to lose her will to live.

Even though she felt scared, paranoid, and utterly broken, she found herself thinking of her old boss and best friend from her old life back in Hyrule City. She found herself thinking back to the day when her friends shared a plan to separate her from that… Monster…

"_Zemira! You can't stay here anymore! I can't stand seeing you like this! Run away from all of it! Just go! You don't deserve to just be left here with… with… _THAT!" _A woman named Midna exclaimed to her dearest friend._

"_Zem… You can't just let him do this to you!" A second woman calmly, yet angrily spoke._

"_But… If I did leave… it would just… He would… He would kill me… I could never…" Zemira, a beautiful woman of twenty one, broke down sobbing. She couldn't run… she couldn't hide… She was trapped in this world of pain and suffering with no escape. "I… I can't escape him! No matter what I do… He finds me and then he… he…"_

_Midna gathered a crying Zemira in her arms. "Shh… It's alright Zemi. I know. I know what he's done to you. And I swear to the goddesses he won't do this again. That bastard will PAY for what he has done. Impa… It's time to put our plan into action."_

"_I believe your right. I'll get the money then… where is the-"_

"_My place."_

"_Okay once I finish here we will leave and visit your apartment."_

"_M-Middie?" Zemira sniffled. "W-what's going on?"_

"_Shh. Just let Impa and I get you out of here. That physco won't EVER touch you again. IMPA! I have another aspect of this plan that just occurred to me…."_

"_You'll have to tell me later. For now; we have bigger problems. We should focus on the business party that is coming up. Vaati," she said his name with pure malice, "will certainly never miss an opportunity to obtain more money."_

Zelda's eyes began to water as she thought about all that had happened; how everything her friends did for her was probably never going to be repaid.

'_Midna… Impa… I'll find a way to repay you…. Someday I will.' _The young woman thought to herself. _'You shouldn't have given me all this…'_ It was all she thought about besides the danger she was in, well she did escape it… but was her peace transitory? Or would she be liberated from this living hell at last?

* * *

><p>The notes of the <em>Prelude of Light <em>echoed through his empty house. The sound of beautiful music reverberated from the cords of a beautiful ebony Grand Piano. Sighing, Link Avalon put his mellifluous fingers to rest. He was tired of playing the instrument for once in his life. The quiet air surrounding him in the night made him feel so alone.

Before he could even realize it, he was walking away from his favorite instrument and upstairs toward his bedroom to escape to the dream world of sleep.

**XxX**

_**Brzzt! **_

"Five more minutes" a very groggy Link stated.

"_You have one new voicemail"_

"Ugh... leave it to Sheik to wake me up ear- WHOA! No... It can't be that late!"

With a dash to his closet, Link quickly gathered something suitable to wear and ran into his bathroom to take a shower.

Quickly finishing with his first task, Link ran down stairs. He went over to his precious piano and picked up all of his music sheets. Stuffing them all in his briefcase, he grabbed his keys and headed out of his mansion. He sometimes couldn't understand why he felt the need to have such a large home when he had no one to share it with.

Link walked out into the cool air, down his driveway, and to one of his prized possessions. His motorcycle, which he called Epona. At first he thought the name was silly, but he never changed it.

The motorcycle was a jade color. He took the helmet off the back and put it on. Then he took the key and turned it, making the motorcycle roar to life.

'_Sheik, please have mercy on your very late C.E.O.' _he thought. _'I'll get her her favorite coffee as a peace offering...'_

Sheik was one woman not to mess with.

Link drives down the road to go get coffee with his sleepy head as the sun shines brightly over the sky. The pavement glides by quickly and Link feels all rushed to get to work, like any other day.

'_Okay, so her favorite flavor coffee is Vanilla and English toffee... I'll even get her extra whipped cream because she loves it so much._

* * *

><p><em><strong>Across town...<strong>_

Zelda stared at the meager amount of money she had left in her safe.

' _It's been half a year and __I have only a little money left from what Midna and Impa gave me... I was hoping it would last longer... But It looks like I'll have to pick my job... There's no point in avoiding that fact any longer...'_

She began to pace back and forth in her little apartment flat, waiting for an idea to pop up into her head. She grabbed a newspaper, seeing if there were any interesting jobs being offered. After reading for a few minutes, she stumbled across a coffee shop that was in need of a waitress.

The name sounded familiar and then Zelda remembered it was the one that was down the street. She squealed in excitement in how she was finally starting to get a move on in her life. Hurriedly, the young woman grabbed the little jacket she had and dashed out of her apartment to the coffee store. What was even greater was how she could just walk there instead of taking a bus.

Zelda was actually quite cold. The small coffee shop was in her sight though, so she didn't think much of it. Zelda walked up, seeing the bright 'Help Wanted' sign. She reached out for the door handle and ...and...

The next thing Zelda sees is a man about her age on top of her.

"Holy Farore! I'm so sorry!" said the man. He had unkempt blonde hair that slightly hung over his deep blue eyes. Those deep blue eyes caught Zelda's purple ones. She noticed that he had a muscular build. Realizing that he was still on top of her, the man got up, and then pulled her up with his left arm. She ended up quite close to him, her hand landing on his chest.

Zelda tensed, shrinking downwards. She waited for him to slap her for being so blundering. She was shocked when this man did nothing of the sort.

"Are you okay miss?" He asked, sounding really concerned something Zelda was definitely not used to. Zelda didn't answer, she merely stared at the ground,, not wanting to meet this strangers eyes again. She felt like he was waiting for the best time to strike, when she started to tremble. "Miss?" he sounded more concerned now.

"I'm fine" Zelda whispered. Her voice was hesitant and quiet. It was like she didn't want to speak, like she felt that he would hurt her if she gave a response he disliked.

"Phew! I thought you hit your head or something." He laughed lightly. Nonetheless, Zelda flinched. "Are you sure you're alright?" this man had concern etched into his voice again.

"Yes" Zelda answered, a little less timidly than before. She noticed he still had an arm around her, seemingly keeping her from falling.

"Oh! I'm sorry!" The man said, sounding a little embarrassed, as he removed his arm from around her.

"It's f-fine" Zelda shivered in the chilly autumn morning air. She walked towards her earlier target, glancing back a little. "I'm sorry I got in your way..." She said.

"It's fine! I wasn't paying attention at all... I'm sorry for knocking you over!" He smiled, laughing a bit. "Are you new around here?"

"Y-yes." Zelda really wanted to escape, but she feared she would come out of this bruised if she went away.

"Huh. That explains why I haven't seen you around Kakariko before." He smiled and walked back over to Zelda. "I'm Link by the way!" He stated, giving out his hand.

"Zelda." Zelda was still timid when she spoke. She let her hand reach out to his, but it was trembling. Still, the two shook hands. Zelda was feeling nervous in the silence that followed after, not much different than her feelings before.

"Well I have to buy another coffee for my secretary..." He laughed, walking back to the cafe. Zelda followed.

Link held the door open for Zelda as she walked up.

"Thanks..." Zelda meekly said. She walked over to the counter, ordering a hot chocolate with a dash of cinnamon and whipped cream on top. It was one of her favorite things that she almost never seemed to have anymore. At the moment she only wanted it to warm up. She pulled her wallet out of her coat pocket, taking out the amount needed, but before she could hand over the money, a hand came over hers and placed the amount on the table. Zelda was going to protest, but a voice cut her off.

"It's the least I can do. After all I did knock you over in my haste!" Link laughed.

Zelda shrugged and went to take a seat while she put her money away. She grabbed a spoon on her way, and then sat down close to the door. She always had to eat the whipped cream first, for some reason she felt compelled to do it. After taking a spoon full of whipped cream to her lips, Link walked over.

"I'm still sorry for that..."

"It's fine."

Link sat down casually like he does this every day and examined the shy yet scared woman. Zelda continued to loudly slurp the delicious hot chocolate and laughed. She noticed that while sipping the wonderful concoction, she got whipped cream all over her face. Link tried to hide his smirk. Zelda quickly grabbed a napkin and wiped all of the whipped cream off. Link only smiled because he had seen her smile as she wiped her face.

"So what brings you to Romani's?" Link asked.

"Well..." Zelda strangely felt calm around this guy. She found him nice, and honest. It made her give away only a little trust. Something that she did not plan to give out so quickly. "I was looking for a job. And I live really close so... I figured i could work here."

"Huh. Well... if they don't hire you, you can give me a call. I'll probably be able to make arrangements for you to get a job."

"Um... thank you... That's really too nice of you." Zelda became timid again.

"Here's my card." Link said, giving a wink. "Well, I have an office to get to... those forms won't sign themselves! I'll see you later?"

"I guess..." Zelda smiled.

Link waved and went out the door, with Zelda giving her own small wave in reply. Before asking about the job offer, she read the name on the card.

Link Avalon; C.E.O

"Oh Din... C.E.O?"

**XxX**

"Okay! Thank you ma'am! I'll be waiting for your call!" Zelda said, getting out of her small interview for her new job.

She began her walk back, and shivered a little. She was happy. She could have a job in the next 48 hours! But they had to go through all the applicants before they could hire her. She understood, it's just she was hoping she didn't have to stay at home and feel sorry for herself.

Zelda read a book, one of the things she had always enjoyed doing. She was reading "The Hunger Games" by Suzanne Collins. The plot was starting to heat up; half of the characters entering the games had already died.

As Zelda became immersed in the plot line, she faintly heard a scratching sound on her door... Glancing upwards from her book she listened closely.

_**Shhst. Shhstshhst.**_

The noise was coming from the front of her flat, coming from the Kitchen door. She got up from her cozy spot on her small couch carefully. She walked around her very modestly furnished apartment quietly. Coming into the kitchen, she reached for the door and opened it to reveal, a dog.

It was a Siberian Husky, with black and white fur. Although he was mostly black, there were many little white markings over his head that crisscrossed and swirled around.

"Aw are you lost?" Zelda cooed, going down to the dog's level. "Come here." She said gently, outstretching her hand. The dog jumped up and licked her face. Zelda laughed, and then noticed the dog had no collar. "Huh. You must be a stray. Would you like to stay here with me?" Zelda giggled as he looked at her a little funny, and then licked her face again. "I'll take that as a yes!" She smiled, closing her door after looking out at all the greenery. "Do you have a name?"

The dog barked at her, tilting his head to the side.

"I guess not. Well how about Rinku? Is that a good enough name?"

She received a lick in reply, and she laughed.

Now, she wasn't truly all alone.


	3. Chapter 2

**A/N: (L) Hello! :D**

(S) Greetings! :D

**(L) I would just like to ask... Who likes our collaboration? XD You know Link's versus Zelda's**

**Parts? XD random question.**

(S) And we would like to thank all of our reviewers thus far. :D Virtual cookies for everyone!

**(L) Oh yes! I get all excited when we get a review XD these two would know XD.**

(S) Yep. She finds creative ways to text me in all caps: WE GOT A REVIEW!

**(L) I have no shame.  
><strong>

**Anyway:**

**LeilaEditor: Aww thanks! :D I had to do a couple rewrites until I thought I had the correct feel. I hope I keep doing everything properly... XD I've been okay with emotions in previous writings so if I mess it up I'm sorry T-T And, Thank you! Much appreciated! :D**

Rose Starglen: Thanks! Lol and I am not the best speller in the world, so that's probably why there was so many erors! *erroes GOSH DARNIT! *errors...XD To be honest I cannot wait to see where this story goes as well!

**(L) We're kinda winging it. It's more fun that way! ;D**

**AngelicParadox91: Thank you! :D We'll try! XD**

Person: Thank you for reviewing even though you don't have an account! Gladly appreciated! :D

**ShadowNinja1011: Thanks! I hope we keep this going as smoothly as it is now! XD**

Forget the Moon-Ignore the sky:  *Cleans up plate mess* Lolololol...so um, thanks for the compliment! And believe me I do not think that we would want to stop this story anytime soon! **(L: Coughs sheepishly about the other ones.) **Anyways...your comment reminds me of the character Phil from the Disney movie Hercules XD Randomness yes, but I have been on a Disney movie marathon type thing lately, so I may have a lot of Disney references up my sleeves XD *loves Disney stuff*

**(L)THANKS FOR ALL THE LOVE! :D**

(S)~Thank you all so much for the reviews! It definitely keeps us going to continue on with the story!~

NOW TO THE STORY! :D

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><p><strong>Lost and Broken<strong>

Chapter two

Link walks into his office building and heads to the small elevator. The normal elevator music plays as he presses the button to head to his floor. When Link reaches his destination at the very top of the building he is greeted with a very scary looking figure. The figure approaches quickly and appears to be a woman, around the same height with blonde hair. Her hair was in a frazzled braid and she had a very red face as if she was just in a big argument.

"WHERE. HAVE. YOU. BEEN? You missed TWO meetings and you now have EXTRA paperwork to do. EXPLAIN YOURSELF. NOW."

Link winced and placed his hands in front of his face, trying not to spill any of his coffee.

"N-now Sheik! You can't murder your boss!" Link stuttered, "Let's not behead anyone today!"

"DO I LOOK LIKE I'M GOING TO KILL MY BOSS'S LATE ASS?"

"To put it frankly, yes, yes you do." Link calmly stated.

Sheik put her hand on her forehead and breathed in deeply. Link took out a coffee and handed her one, which she gladly took.

"Thank you." Sheik said, looking more normal now that she got her anger out of her. "Now really, what happened to you?"

Link ponders her question, thinking of how to answer. He knows that if he said he got sidetracked from a girl she would either get involved or would want to tease him until dies. The two possible outcomes did not seem to be in Link's favor so he decided to bend the truth.

"The coffee shop was just busy, that's all." Link avoided Sheik's gaze just in case she could magically tell he was lying.

"Really?" Sheik said, raising an eyebrow. "That was the problem? It was...busy? I could understand you sleeping in late, but the coffee shop? You usually said that it was hardly busy, which is why you go to that specific one."

'Damn it, Sheik. I still won't tell her the real answer.' Link sighed. "Well, you caught me. I slept in. it was worse than usual. I subconsciously wok-"

"Cut the bull. Tell me what REALLY happened."

'...Damn.' Link once again sighed. His secretary's perceptive personality was really hard to evade. 'I won't be able to get around it. I might as well tell her... NO! I should tell her a half truth, that way I won't exactly be lying... Please don't see through this...'

"I accidentally bumped into a little girl on the way out of the cafe and I stayed a little longer to make sure she was okay. I even got her a Hot Chocolate with extra whipped cream."

"Aww that's adorable, what did she look like?"

Before Link even knew it he gave a response. "She had golden blonde hair and the most beautiful purple eyes you would ever see... She was very tiny, and looked a little fragile, like she could break at any moment. She was shy, and blushed at any kind of complement or kind act towards her." Link realized what he just said, and immediately stopped talking.

"I knew it! You met a girl!"

'Oh crap...'

"Tell. Me. EVERYTHING. Who is she? Did you develop feelings? Is she pretty? Are you going to try and see her again?"

Link starts to walk away and say over his shoulder, "Later. At lunch."

Link turned back around for a second asking, "What's the agenda for today?"

Sheik gave him a small glare. "The usual. But at 12:00 you have a meeting with Zoran Music Industries."

Link groaned, heading towards his office. "They want to merge don't they?"

"Yep."

"Joy!" Link stated, his face looking annoyed. "I might need you to help me think of a way to _respectfully _decline their _generous_ offer."

"I'm detecting sarcasm there Link." Sheik snickered, teasing Link's dislike for meetings.

"Thank you Captain Obvious." Link glared, poking his head out of his office doorway. "And where is all that paperwork you promised me last night?"

"Here," Sheik threw her three foot stack of papers in front of him. "Have fun!" She smiled and shut Link's door as she left his office.

Link groaned once again. "Ugh. This must be some form of payback."

The office he was in was a large sized place with a light green paint. There was one large window on the back of the space and a nice baby grand piano was in a corner.

Link sat down at his desk and decided to scan over the papers, and he did for about ten minutes. Paperwork and meetings was his least favorite part of his work, but it was something that had to be done.

'I'll work on it later,' Link thought and he walked over to his piano to play for a while.

* * *

><p><em>It was her newly found rose garden. She had grown to love it, and its security. It had shielded her; It had protected her. She had escaped the cruel world she left behind here. It was her new place. But it was taken from her.<em>

_ He had found her last escape._

_ He had found her hideaway. _

Zelda lurched forward, waking with a start. She immediately looked around, fearful that someone had found her, after she tried so hard to escape. Rinku stretched and jumped onto Zelda's bed. He barked tilting his head the side. Zelda suddenly hugged Rinku to her chest very tightly, and Rinku sweetly licked her cheek.

"It w-wasn't real. It wasn't r-real." Zelda cried, genuinely scared. She let Rinku down, but his blue eyes stared at her sweetly, as he nudged her hand.

"You are so cute... I wish..." She stopped talking then. Something had given her an unpleasant memory. Shrugging off the thoughts, she shuddered.

Walking to the kitchen, Zelda pulled out the small bag of dog food she bought for Rinku. After feeding him, she made an English muffin. Sighing, she looked out of her window to the roses. She smiled. "They look so lovely." Then she remembered her nightmare and shuddered.

She was slowly starting to cry, sinking down. She felt alone, scared and afraid. She needed someone but, she wasn't ready to get close enough to people. Rinku padded over, knowing his new master was in need of affection.

"Good boy Rinku." Zelda said, admitting to herself that her dog was very intelligent. "I should get dressed and go grocery shopping." She stated, mentally preparing herself as she walked up to her shower.

* * *

><p>Zelda came down a little bit later, her towel wrapped around her hair, dressed in a casual pink shirt and jeans. She was looking for her sneakers around the couch where she thought she had left them.<p>

Then her phone rang.

Zelda jumped and looked around to see if there was somewhere to hide at first. In the next second she shook it off and went to see who had called her.

"He-" Zelda's voice cracked, "Hello?"

"Hi! It's Saria, and I'm calling to let you know about the job that you applied for at Romani's Cafe."

Zelda's heart jumped, praying to the Goddesses that she would get it.

"I'm sorry to say that you didn't get the job, "the lady said," and I'm sure there are a lot more opportun-."

Zelda just hung up and dropped the phone.

"Am I not good enough?," and tears formed in her eyes. "W-Why can I not do anything right?"

She sank against the wall; thoughts of going to the grocery store completely forgotten. She cried for a bit, again thinking of how alone she was in the world.

* * *

><p>It was 11:57. Three minutes until a meeting. Three minutes until complete boredom for Link.<p>

Link never enjoyed having to go to, or present meetings. Today another company, Zoran Music Industries, has come in to make a deal with Kokori Records, Link's company. The only problem for Link was that he already knew the answer , which was no, and he did not feel like listening to a thirty or so minute lecture on why they thought it was a good idea.

The door to enter the meeting room was just a mere three steps away, but he didn't feel like going into the room. Link sighed and just as soon as he lifted his hand to open the door, a person shoved him in.

"Hey!," Link said, as he turned around. There behind him was Sheik smiling.

"You're not escaping." Sheik mouthed as she closed the door in front of him.

"Ah! Mr. Avalon! Good to see you!" A man had said, shaking Link's hand. "How are you this afternoon?"

"Mr. Kujira! Wonderful thank you! And you?" Link stated, trying to seem happy.

"Fine thanks." Mr. Kujira stated merrily. "Now I suppose you know what terms of business we have come to discuss?"

"Why yes, yes I do. Shall we begin then Gentlemen?" Link gestured to the rest of the men sitting in the room.

"And Lady!" An annoying sounding voice said.

'_NO! ANYONE BUT HER!'_ Link thought, even more desperate to get this meeting over with. He kept on a straight and polite face as he addressed her, "Ah! Ruto Shibo, I apologize, I did not see you sitting over there!" Link internally groaned as he walked to go sit in his chair at the head of the table. '_Of course my stalker has to be here today.'_

Mr. Kujira stands up and goes to a blank piece of paper on a stand. He flips it over to reveal the purpose of their meeting. On the paper it shows a picture of his company and Link's company with an equal sign. Link zones out and just nods every now and then to show that he is "listening". Eventually the man flips over that sheet to reveal a chart with a red arrow going up. The man looks at Link, and tells more about merging companies.

Link wasn't paying attention to his speech anymore, and his thoughts went to the girl that he met in the coffee place.

The scene kept replaying in his head about the girl, Zelda. Her pretty blonde hair and gorgeous violet eyes, Link was only thinking about seeing her again, and not Zoran Music Industries.

"Link," Zelda said, her eyes gleaming at him. Link smiled, and said ,"Zelda".

"Link... Link. Link!"

A hand touched him and he was out of his trance.

"What? GAH!" Link said.

Mr. Kujira looked disappointed and shook his head. He said "I finished my presentation. Have you made up your mind?"

Link stood up and blatantly stated "No, but thank you for the offer."

The blonde then walked out of the room, with everyone silent, and closed the door behind him.

"See! You're alive! Wasn't that easy?" Sheik said smiling away.

"Shut up," Link said and he made his way back to his office.


	4. Chapter 3

A/N: (S) Well it sure has been awhile since we updated, right Jen?  
><strong>(L) this is true my friend.<strong>  
>(S) yep...sorry bout that people. XP OTL<br>**(L) I feel like we've been lazy... but truthfully we had a s***load of projects...**  
>(S) language! But then again you say that a lot XDDD But yes it's true...we have been busy with tons of school work...and then the dreaded finals are coming up...*sigh*<br>**(L) I put asterisks in! :P OH GOD! DON'T MENTION THE FINALS! *dramatic Anime faint* XD**  
>(S) Yep...ANYWHO! Here is the chapter we know you've all been waiting for! As usual, please review! It legit makes our day and it motivates us to know people enjoy reading what we write*yes I sound like a total sap*<br>**(L) That is true! XD *smirks***  
>(S) *glares* meeeeep<br>**(L) And speaking of reviews! Our constant reviewer, AngelicParadox, has become our editor! :D**  
>(S) Also speaking of reviews! Our replies:<br>**AngelicParadox91-**** Yay! We made someone happy! XD Thanks for the complements and your support! :D Haha, we will be going on with this, and since you're editing it should make our story even more enjoyable! :)**  
><span>LeilaEditor- <span>I don't think we will quit writing this...I hope not...and thanks for your positive input! Again, it really helps to keep us motivated! :D

* * *

><p><strong>Lost and Broken<strong>  
>Chapter 3<p>

Zelda was still hugging her knees when she stopped crying. She felt useless and unwanted. She had hoped to have a distraction to keep her focused on something other than cleaning her house. At the moment, it was a complete mess. All Zelda did over the past few days is sit around and do nothing besides cry. The haunting image of her once married to fiance kept coming back into the back of her mind. She wished he would go away, but his memory still held hold of Zelda's broken heart and terrorized mind.

The blonde young woman was a little scared of staying in one place for so long, but she could not determine her reasoning... that was a lie though; Zelda knew what the real reason was, but the unpleasant truth was lingering in the back of her mind. It was always popping into her head, giving her nightmares, and leaving her hugging herself while feeling defenseless. After all, he was probably looking for her now. He would try to find her, and he would probably succeed.

Tired of sitting in the same position, and feeling a little numb from sitting on the floor, she decided to save herself from her thoughts and focus on getting a job. She could never forget the horrors of what she had gone through, but she could at least try to concentrate on something else. Remembering that she was still in the process of finding a job, she attempted to get the newspaper she had been reviewing last night, only to realize that she had misplaced it. After thinking of where it could be in her flat, Zelda remembered the newspaper she had been using was in her living room.  
>Zelda plopped onto her old beaten up couch and noticed Rinku finally woke up from his nap. She reached down to pat his head, and thought of her last job application. She felt like the meager amount of confidence she had just earned depleted when the cafe would not hire her. Even so, Zelda never was one to give up, even when the situation was completely bleak. She had a perfect example from a few months ago. Still, a job would be something she could commit to, something that would take her away from her broken mind scape. Zelda felt like she was viewed as the same, worthless girl that Vaati saw her as by everyone.<br>Rinku barked at Zelda, brushing up against her legs.

"At least you seem to think I'm perfect..." Zelda said sadly, petting her furry friend. Rinku was surely brightening up her life while Zelda still felt broken.

Seeing her paper on her coffee table, Zelda got up from her spot and walked over, picking up her target while lazily falling onto her small couch again in exhaustion. Thinking of the past can bring a lot out of a person. Flipping through, she found the page she was looking for.  
>Zelda eliminated many of the jobs before even reading the work descriptions; in particular, jobs at fast food restaurants. She had a great dislike for fast food restaurants in general, and working in one would be quite disturbing in her opinion. Half of the available jobs listed on the first page were already scribbled out by Zelda's highlighter, which she had grabbed off of her table, and one or two were labeled as possibilities for the time being. The rest had a question mark written to signify jobs Zelda would be fall back on if her first choices were not available. Rinku was pawing at Zelda's seat. That was when something occurred to her.<p>

"Rinku? Do you need to go outside?" Zelda immediately asked. She was answered with a bark. "Silly me. I was so caught up in my own matters I forgot about you! I'm sorry." Zelda felt somewhat bad that she had forgotten about Rinku temporarily in her seeking of employment. Zelda walked to the door to her backyard and opened it. Rinku ran out into the fenced area excitedly, and went around barking at a few birds, that had most likely built a nest near the apartment. Zelda left the door slightly ajar so Rinku could get inside and walked back to her couch. Before getting there though, she hit the side of her kitchen table when her purse fell over.

"Ow!" Zelda rubbed her hip, wincing a little. "That's going to leave a mark." She remarked. '_Yet another mark to add to the collection,' _she thought grimly. She kneeled over and started to pick up all the contents that spilled out of her purse. She was just about to finish cleaning up when she noticed a familiar looking name on a business card. "Link..." She remembered the sweet guy from the coffee shop.  
>She had bumped into him, knocking both of them to the ground, and he didn't even mind. She was used to experiencing a forming bruise after that would happen, but Link only helped her up and apologized. And then he had gotten her the hot chocolate she ordered without a second thought, and engaged in conversation like Zelda was an old friend of his...<br>_"Well... if they don't hire you, you can give me a call. I'll probably be able to make arrangements for you to get a job."_  
>Zelda had her doubts that he actually would be willing to help her. Although...she had to admit, despite the possibility that it was all a facade, he had been nice enough at the cafe. There was a chance he really wasn't a bad person.<br>_'Maybe I should give him a call. That way I can say I tried at least. Link... I just hope you are as nice as I think you are...'_

* * *

><p>Link and Sheik walked into the break room , but Link was trying to get ahead of Sheik; that way, he could escape talking about the topic that was now glued into her mind. Attempting not to think of what the said topic was, to say the least, substantially more difficult.<br>"So. About this girl..." Sheik said trying to catch up to Link as he walked quickly.  
>He ignored her and decided to pick a table. Sheik went over to pick out some of Link's famous soup.<p>

The soup consisted of a homemade broth and noodles. It was simple, but it tasted great. It was very similar to the ramen soup, but it had Link's special touch. He included several spices and some veggies like carrots and scallions.

Sheik placed the cups of soup into a microwave and then spun around to face Link. He had to admit that his secretary was persistent.

"Well? I'm all ears," she said smiling.  
>Link put his hand onto his forehead and thought that he was never a great planner when it came to things. He also felt he wasn't particularly great at expressing his feelings.<br>"Do I have to force you to talk?"  
>Link mumbled a quiet "No." Link knew that most of the time he was able to talk to Sheik; he trusted her very much, and knew that trust had been well earned in the past.<br>_'Just because I trust her doesn't mean I'm comfortable with talking about this like we're talking about the weather'_ Link thought with an ounce of annoyance.  
>The microwave buzzed and Sheik walked over with the cups and placed them on the table Link was seated at. She sat down trying to think of a way to pry him to get an answer. She blew on her soup and sipped slowly from the delicious food, when she finally got an idea. Sheik giggled and Link looked up from his food with wide eyes.<br>"Don't make me bring up...him," Sheik said.  
>"You wouldn't"<p>

"Oh, yes I would. Especially in a situation like this."

"Please, I beg you, don't do it," Link said.

"Ghira-"

Link covered her mouth and gave her a death glare. That _person_ was one person that Link wanted to forget, but Sheik always had to bring him up every other day.

"You want to keep your job?" Link questioned Sheik with raised eyebrows.  
>"You can't fire me Link and you know that" said Sheik grinning away while pushing Links hand away. Sheik had a lot to smile about. Thanks to her years of experience working with Link, she would be getting a huge promotion. Link's last Chief Operations Officer, Rauru , had retired last week. So, as Link couldn't think of anyone else better for the position, he thought he would promote Sheik. Of course, there would be less room for joking on Sheik's part, but instead of pushing Link into all of his meetings; she could go in with him. And she knew someone would need to help Link stay focused. Link knew this too, and Sheik was very good at keeping him on task. He knew as well as she did, that they would be a great pair to run the record business, for many reasons.<br>Link knew she was right so he just sighed in deeply. "Why do you want to know so badly anyway?"  
>Sheik opened her mouth to speak, but the door to enter the room burst open.<br>They both turned around and Link's jaw dropped. Sheik then burst into laughter. Link however, looked anything but entertained. Mortified, annoyed, and angry were much more accurate adjectives for his reaction.  
>"Good afternoon my two favorite gorgeous people in this office! Don't I just look FABULOUS today?"<p>

There he was in the flesh.

"Speak of the devil," Link muttered under his breath.  
>"Good afternoon to you too Ghirahim," Sheik stated with a wide grin, "We were just talking about you! And you do look quite fabulous!"<br>Ghirahim was famous for getting into everyone's business, but especially Link's. There was never a rumor this guy didn't spread, and he always had to be the center of attention. As far as his relationship with Link, he had become obsessed, almost like a stalker. It was a one-sided attraction on Ghirahim's part, but he rarely acted on it, so Link had no reason to blatantly fire him.

Ghirahim walked over, his outfit definitely fitting his personality. It was a white dress shirt with a black design that had apparent holes over his chest, and of course, shiny and leathery black pants and dress shoes. '_Definitely not work attire_,' Link thought, yet he didn't want to impose a dress code on his staff, despite that Ghirahim would take full advantage of the fact...although there were those days.

"Why hello there Link, Sheik! Isn't is a lovely day outside?" said Ghirahim.

Both Sheik and Link looked outside from the closest window. It was pouring buckets upon buckets of rain. Link smirked and Sheik nudged him to stop. Ghirahim cleared his throat awkwardly shifted his footing closer to Link.

"Any whooooo... Link darling, you have a phone call from some girl who saw the help wanted thing a ma jig. Can you talk to her?" asked Link's other secretary which was the one and only Ghirahim.

He moved even closer to Link. He felt Ghirahim's breath on his neck as he whispered "She seems kind of...desperate." Link backed away, pushing his chair, a bit scared at what just happened and nodded his head. Ghirahim obviously hadn't learned the meaning of the term "personal space".

Link was actually quite happy to see that someone quickly replied to his ad in the newspaper. Immediately, Link bolted out of his chair and walked quickly to his office -leaving Sheik behind to deal with Ghirahim- which was only a few yards away from the lounge. He cleared his throat and picked up his phone.

"Hello?" Link asked, making sure Ghirahim was not playing a joke.

"Uh, hi! I saw this ad in the newspaper and was wondering if I could apply for the job position listed," a quiet voice replied with. It sounded familiar to him but he didn't want to ask the woman's name.

"Sure! Well to make sure you are qualified, you need to do an interview. Do you mind coming in either tomorrow morning or later in the evening today around like 5: 30ish?"

"Oh that sounds lovely! Thank you so much!" said the woman on the other line. Link smiled, understanding how hard it was to get a job nowadays. He grinned more feeling the genuine happiness over the phone as he heard little giggles in the background.

"I guess I'll come over later today then," the woman said, after a pause to most likely check her schedule for the best time.

"Okay I'll see you then!"

* * *

><p>It was 4:00, and Zelda was getting ready for her interview. Her closet had a very small amount of clothes to begin with, but her selection of business like attire was even more so. Zelda Had decided to wear a deep magenta shirt she had. The neckline was layered, and it had short sleeves. She accented it with a black belt placed over her waist, and a pair of black pants. Walking over to her shoes, she grabbed a pair of matching flats, noticing that she had absolutely no heels.<p>

'_That's another thing I'll have to add to my clothing list. I'll need to look more professional if Link gives me the job.'_

Sighing, Zelda went to go brush her hair. Leaving her bangs straight, she pulled two small sections of her hair forward, and tied the rest back into an elegant bun. Although one would never hear her say it, Zelda did look quite pretty.

"How do I look Rinku?" Zelda giggled when he barked affectionately and spun around. She bent over to give Rinku a pat on the head.

Ceasing her attention to Rinku, Zelda proceeded to start turning most of her lights off before she left her flat. Zelda had never liked to leave her lights on when she didn't need them. Although, she did leave the light closest to her door so she could see when she walked back in her flat later. Grabbing her keys, she locked her door, and left to start walking, but then she realized it was quite chilly. So, she walked back to her door, greeted by a confused Rinku.

"Forgot to grab a sweater!" Zelda smiled and grabbed the black sweater she always wore nowadays. "Alright, see you later Rinku!" The blonde petted his head again.

As soon as she had stepped into her small apartment she left it. Finally ready to step out and walk to her destination, she thought, '_Finally I can do something right in my life.'_

Then Zelda saw the time, and froze for a moment. "4:45? Oh no!" And Zelda started sprinting toward Link's office without a thought as to how ruffled her appearance might become.

* * *

><p>"She's a little late isn't she Link?" Sheik stated, sitting on the corner of Link's desk. He was curious at how it could be comfortable sitting like that, but he just dropped the subject in his mind.<p>

"I wonder who she is" said the dirty blonde in a tired daze.

"Well if you want to find out, it'd be best if you try tried to stay awake!" said Sheik in a very sharp tone. She gave him a quick slap to the head to help him wake up.

Suddenly Link's door was slowly opening.

"I'm sorry I'm a little late..." a timid voice had said.

'_I know that voice...'_ Link thought with a bit of shock and...Perhaps a little excitement then spun his chair around. "Zelda?"

A bright red blush covered her pale skin. Her hair was pulled back into a bun with stray hairs on the side that nicely accented her face. Link thought the outfit was, simply put, beautiful. He kept on staring at her, examining how business-like she looked. Even though her outfit looked amazing, it was the girl that really looked beautiful. Her eyes, although looking dull at the moment, still shone with a bright blue. Her golden hair accented it very nicely, and her polite, small smile would make the whole room light up in Link's opinion. It took Sheik another nice slap on the arm to get him out of his daydream.

"Oh, yes! Uh, Sheik I guess you can leave. Zelda just grab a chair and we can start the interview." Link said, with a bright smile and all fatigue forgotten.  
>"Alright," Zelda said as she sat down. She fidgeted a little, her small smile turning into an unsure frown. Zelda was glad to see that Link was as nice as she had originally thought he was. She felt like she could be around him all day. Something about him made her feel... safe...<br>Link was going through his filing folders to find papers for her to fill out, and he was thinking about how quickly Zelda applied for his offer. Usually people take a while to get any applicants, and Link got his first one in just a day.

'_She must be really desperate to apply that quickly,' _Link thought to himself as he shuffled through more papers in his desk. With that thought Link was even gladder he had offered her the job opportunity.

"Found them!" Link stated holding up several forms in the air. "Well, I guess we can begin."

"Okay." Her quiet voice said that she was still a little nervous about her current situation.

Link's door opened again.

"Link, he is up to his antics AGAIN." Sheik said, referring to a certain light grey skinned individual.

"Ugh. Not right now, seriously I'm about to fire that guy!" It was already annoying simply having to put up with the strange and frustrating individual, but now those feelings were even more pronounced since he had to stop his conversation with Zelda.

"No complaints here if you do." Sheik stated flatly.

Zelda look confused. "Uh... What's going on?" She stayed very quietly, not wanting to ask the question. It sounded like she was afraid of her question to Link. Still, he did hear her soft voice, so he would answer her question.

"Oh! I'm so sorry Zelda! One of my crazy interns usually acts... different. More so than most people."

"Oh. O-okay." Zelda stated meekly.

"I mean it's not just differently. Link's just really bad at explaining things." Sheik stuck her tongue out at him.

"Sheik, shut up," Link said with a tone of annoyance.

Zelda giggled, which made Link smile a bit more. He couldn't get enough of her laugh; she had been so...somber when they had first met. Seeing her smile made him want to smile more in response.

"Well we should finally start this. Let's get this show on the road!" Link said with enthusiasm.

"And I'll go take care of the promotion-demanding jerkoff. The wonderful Mido! Sheik said, dripping with sarcasm. She slowly closed the door behind her as she left.

While Link knew he couldn't simply give her the job without a decent interview, he was positive Zelda would deliver a great interview. In addition, a part of him wanted very much to give the job to Zelda because she appeared that she really did need this job for whatever her reasons were.

_'Well...I can't exactly hand the job over to her, but being a bit more...lenient and receptive towards her wouldn't be a terrible crime against business ethics. Besides, with the barely adequate quality of the other candidates, how could I not give her the job?'_


	5. Chapter 4

A/N: (S) Yeah...no excuse for being so late on uploading, unless you want me to come up with some crazy situation. I've just been really busy doing school summer work and being on vacation with my family who are never off on the same days XP. *cough*andabitofwritersblock*cough* :p  
><strong>(L) Well... July's excuse is Storm damage *details on my profile* And August's is family visiting CONSTANTLY! Legit! I've never been so tired before in. my. life! Jeez. so much swimming T-T And of course. Summer reading was added to the mix...<strong>  
>(S) Yeah! Went tubing for the first time with Jen a week ago and had a blast! XD Still have battle scars from getting air time and falling off... XD<br>**(L) Oh my god yes! ...You should try it when Uncle goes full on. MY ELBOWS WERE BLEEDING! XD but it was awesomely awesome! :D XD**  
>(S) Yeperdoodles! Anyways, we also went a bit horror this chapter by the end of it so yeah...tht also took many hours of trying to figure how to approach it and for what to happen and blah blah blah...<br>**(L) Yeah. And I had hours of creepy music infecting my mind. Speaking of which! There's a link on my profile for a creepy ass song that really help us with the creepiness of this chapter. Check it out! :D ANYWAY! To the reviews:**

AngelicParadox: Ah, you're catching onto that? XD I would hope it was obvious! ;) Well, you know, we try! With a little encouragement from you of course ;) Glad you liked it!  
><strong>Leila Editor:<strong>** Haha! Maybe they will! Maybe they won't... but for the time being Zelda is still married to the scum named Vaati. :'( *sniff* The poor girl.**

(S) Again, sorry for the long wait! Please let us know what you liked, or even didn't like in this chapter in that little section called the reviews :) MIN'NA ARIGATO!  
><strong>(L) Yes! GOMENNASAI! And I should tell you to avoid confusion... the Girl in the dream is in fact, Zelda, reliving her old life. It goes all out... sort of. It is very violent, and reminds you of the dark undertones this story has. It won't always be so violent in this story, but this part is necessary for the umm... uhhhhhh... shit what was I saying? …*facepalm*<strong>  
>(S) Character Development?<br>**(L) Yes. That. (_ _)**  
>(S) Well anyway! Enjoy! :D<p>

* * *

><p><strong>Lost and Broken<strong>  
>Chapter 4<p>

"So Zelda have you ever worked anywhere before this interview?" Link began.

"Yes, I have. I once worked in a branch of the clothing store, called Nayru's Boutique. I was the assistant manager." Zelda answered Link's first question in a small voice. It was likely she was still nervous. Link tried to think of ways to reduce her anxiety, but he was drawing a blank. Link noticed that before the question she looked down for a bit and answered with her head looking in a different direction. He could understand her situation if this was only her second job because he could also get nervous in a situation like what Zelda was in now.

"Okay. So, what were your obligations as the Assistant manager?" Link asked, intrigued. He wanted to try to make the questions easy for her, that way he could warm up to more important questions.

"I was expected to organize store events like markdowns, sales and specials." Zelda was still quiet as a mouse, and Link was trying to think of ways to make her more talkative. The way she portrayed herself at the moment, Link knew that she must have been different before because it was unusual for a person to be extremely quiet. Even if she did not get the job, Link still wanted to make her open up more.

*30 Minutes Later*

'_Well that wasn't too bad,' _Link thought as he looked at his clock. _'Only 8:07'_

"T-thank you for the interview. I really appreciate it. It... it means a lot," Zelda spoke softly. Her head was focused on her hands folded in her lap and Link rested his eyes on Zelda.

"You're welcome. I just need you to fill out one more paper and then you are all set." Link looked through the trash dump of a desk scanning for a form for Zelda to sign. He did not see it so he looked through the doors on the side of his desk.

"Um..." Zelda said. She wanted to see if she could help but Link was very so focused so she decided against saying anything else.

"Don't worry. I'll find that paper." Link continued his search and he looked at the last drawer. _'It has to be in there!' _Link leaned over in his chair and stretched his arm over to the drawer. He was just about to grab hold of the brass handle and open the drawer when all of a sudden he heard a loud 'POP' and a cracking noise.

The last thing Link saw as his chair broke under him was Zelda's surprised face. Then all he saw was the subtle light color of his floor.

"That damn chair!" Link said as he quickly stood up. He blushed slightly as he looked over to Zelda, rubbing the back of his neck. "I knew it hated me," he pouted while pretending to rub off dirt from his pants that wasn't really there.

Zelda let a small smile form on her face for a bit before returning to her quiet self. All through her interview Link tried to get her to smile and he guessed all it took was his unexpected face plant. He did however feel happy the she was able to smile during the interview, even if she did it when it was technically over. Link started to laugh at himself when he finally found the paper, which was in the drawer.

"Well here's that paper." Link stated. "All you need to do is sign it and then I'll most likely talk to you later to follow up"

"T-thank you!" Zelda said and taking the slip out of his hands. Link smiled because he thought her stutter was quite adorable, but whenever he heard it, he always wondered why she did.

While she was reading over the form, Link looked to his chair, sighing at the broken head and arm rests. '_I just knew this chair was going to break one day. But of all the times it picked now?' _Walking to his door, he turned to Zelda. "Excuse me for a moment," he said politely, smiling. Link stepped out of the room, closing the door behind him. "Hey Sheik!" He called.

"Yes, Mr. Boss-Man?" Sheik chuckled.

Link gave a short glare. "May I borrow your chair? Mine decided to break into pieces." He just realized how stupid that sounded.

Sheik gave him a sideways glance. "I told you that chair was going to break the moment you bought it! Besides... it's _my_ chair! I need one too, you know? Go steal one from the break room or something! Now if we're done being little kids I have work to do!" And with that, she grabbed a stack of papers and walked off.

Link sighed as he slowly he walked back to his office defeated. '_Maybe I'll go buy a new chair later today...' _He walked off to the break room, sighing again. '_I can deal with this for a day...'_

Finally picking out one of the more "suitable looking chairs", Link walked back down the hall to his room. He dragged the chair along, getting snickers of laughter from other co-workers as he passed them. All Link could do was just shake his head and roll his eyes at the whole situation.

As he opened the door to his office, he saw that Zelda just standing up to leave. Their eyes met for a brief second, but Zelda turned her head away. Link was still standing in the doorway with his hand on the doorknob, his other arm holding a cheap and uncomfortable white chair.

"Thank you, again, for interviewing me. It," Zelda paused and smiled at the ground for a few seconds. "It means a lot," Zelda spoke softly.

"Y-yeah! No problem! This place could use a new member." Link replied rubbing his hand on the back of his head.

"Yeah, I guess," said Zelda. She seemed a lot happier now that it was all over. "Well I think I should be going now. I still need to finish running some , uh, errands."

"Oh! Okay. Well I'll call you later then? I mean for you to know if you got the job. Well that's stupid, you probably did. I mean not like you didn't have a chance to get it! Wait! I mean..." He trailed off, embarrassed that he started rambling.

Zelda smiled again for a bit and they both stared into each others' embarrassed eyes.

"I guess I'll talk to you later then," said the blonde young woman, rather shyly.

With that, Zelda gave Link another timid smile and then walked to the door. Link got out of her way and with a polite nod, and a quick movement, Zelda vanished from the room.

"Good bye," Link whispered.

* * *

><p>Arriving at her flat, Zelda was immediately greeted by Rinku, who barked excitedly upon her entrance. Zelda smiled as she closed the door and locked it behind her. When she was done, she kneeled down and petted her furry friend.<p>

"Hey there Rinku. Were you a good boy while I was away?" she asked as Rinku pawed at her hand. "Silly boy." Zelda gave a small giggle as she hugged Rinku and patted his head. "You want to go outside?" Rinku got up and ran to the door, his tail wagging excitedly as he went. She followed him to the kitchen, where he waited patiently. Zelda giggled once more and opened the kitchen door to let the dog out.

The blonde backed a bit away from the door and leaned against the frame, letting cool autumn air in. '_I wonder if Link noticed how nervous I was...'_ she thought to herself. She could barely speak over a whisper, for some reason her voice left her, and she wanted to leave. It could have been the fact that she was alone with him that caused her voice to falter, since she felt safer with at least with more than one person around. While she was thinking, some wind from outside blew into her face, letting some of the stray strands of hair fly with the breeze.

Eventually the moon came over the horizon, filling the area around Zelda with moonlight. '_I hope I didn't say the wrong things to Link either," _she thought. She truthfully didn't know why she was so afraid that Link wouldn't like her. There was also the fact that she wanted to trust him, but she felt that she shouldn't.

Sighing in defeat, Zelda walked out more into her yard while Rinku was returning in for the night. '_I guess I'll just have to wait and see.'_

She lifted her head up to the sky, faintly seeing dark swirling clouds as they began to cover the moon. Knowing that it was likely going to rain soon, she hurriedly walked back inside, closed her door and locked it.

She took a quick glance at the clock that was built into her stove. _'9:04? Well, I guess I should head to bed... Or I could read a bit before.' _She walked over to the backdoor in the kitchen and made sure it was locked then closed it. She then checked all the locks on the windows, closing the curtains as well. Zelda turned out her kitchen light and went into her living room, continuing through the rest of the flat, locking the windows in every room. She finally walked into her bedroom.

With a click, her bedroom door and windows were locked , the feeling of being safe settling into Zelda. A feeling she did not take for granted. Then she let out a breath she didn't know she was holding and turned to face her room. She saw, with a small smile on her face, Rinku making himself comfortable in the corner of the bed he seemed to favor the most.

Her small grin suddenly vanished when she heard a low sounding boom in the distance. Zelda's light blue eyes lit up when a flash of lightning followed another crash of thunder. Rinku got out of his spot on her bed and began to bark continuously. The blonde ran over to him and began to calm him down by petting him and putting him back in his spot.

Quickly, Zelda got dressed into her light orange and yellow pajamas. While she did so, her windows began to shudder from the force of wind outside of her apartment. Zelda involuntarily folded her arms close to her body and closed her eyes.

Another loud crash of thunder boomed throughout the apartment.

Her fingers dug into the soft fabric of her pj's and she hoped that this storm would stop.

Another flash of lightning briefly lit up the room.

Zelda ran to her bed and hopped under the covers.

More thunder.

More lightning.

Rinku came up and nudged her face, and Zelda moved her arms so she could hug him. She felt the need to sleep, but couldn't because of the raging rain outside. She tried to keep her eyes closed but they opened every time a flash of light would reflect off the white walls. All she could do was lie there until she fell asleep, utterly terrified of the storm.

But, even if she did fall asleep... She wondered if escaping to her dreams was something she really wanted.

~(*)~

_A girl was lying alone in a bedroom, with a smile on her beautiful face. Her lovely brown hair cascaded on her pillow and her bright blue eyes sparkled as she thought of the one she loved._

_She was captivated by his smile, his sickly pale skin, gorgeous red eyes, and his strange yet beautiful purple hair. The way his hair was styled over his left eye made him look mysterious. She thought of how he asked her to marry him. She smiled again in her sleep remembering his joyous face when she said yes. _  
><em>The girl slowly closed her eyes and were then opened. As quick as she blinked, the scene around her changed and a large iron gate was opened before her. Ivy vines covered the full brick walls on the sides of the gate and the area surrounding the girl was dark and misty. <em>

_The girl took a step forward but paused. She examined herself and realized that she had gotten older, but she could not tell by how much. A gust of wind blew but the girl could not feel the normal chill that came with wind. The sky above was filled with dark clouds, looking like they were about to pour down rain any minute. She did however have the sense that an injury had occurred to her, but it was not major. She fixed her bangs and noticed that she had a wet face. It was not raining, so she assumed that she may have been crying recently. Slowly, again, the girl walked forward with curiosity to see what was behind the gate, although it did have an ominous appearance._

_She walked down a long, stony pathway, past poorly trimmed bushes, broken sculptures, and dead flora. She glanced left and right every time she heard noises. Whether it be a trick of her mind, she didn't know. All she did was continue walking towards the darkness of the land. She felt like she was walking for ages, passing through this courtyard, until she came upon a large wall. No, not a wall. A giant castle appeared out of the foggy mist and windy air. Feeling a bit of relief to see something among this oblivion, she began to pace faster towards the castle. _

_Suddenly, she stopped. Before her, on the steps of the castle, was also another cloaked figure. She stared at the person, watching as they lifted off their hood. A gale of wind blew the persons hair out from the cloak, revealing long brunette tresses of hair. She stared in awe at the mystery woman's beauty, and saw her walk towards the front doors of the ominous palace. The other cloaked girl followed the older looking girl, curiosity getting the best of her. Making sure not to be seen, she ducked behind broken pottery and rose bushes, getting a bit scratched up in the process by sharp edges and thorns._

_Being only a few feet away from the door now, the brunette looked around, being careful not to show her face, and entered through the doors. She slipped inside, and with a loud crash, the doors closed behind her, leaving the younger girl behind. Still in the dilapidated courtyard, the intrigued girl followed the other's footsteps._

_The cloaked girl gradually reached the end of the courtyard and stood in front of the huge wooden twin doors that the other figure just stood before. With a light knock, the doors slowly opened. Darkness was all that she saw as the wind tried to push her inside of the castle's structure._

_As she stepped into the darkness, the doors slammed behind her. The girl felt helpless in the dark and tried to open the doors to the outside. Her screams of horror reverberated through the pitch black and suddenly a hall materialized before her. More screams began to cover over hers and continued when the girl paused and stopped yelling for help. She covered her ears, but the shrill noises wouldn't stop as if they were all in her head. _

_Her skin grew paler, and became fragile, and bruises began to appear when the screams finally began to fade. Her forearms seemed completely unscathed, as her upper arms we starting to be covered in cuts. Blood ran down until it dripped from her hands, but she felt no pain. Her face was clear of any damage, just like her forearms, but everywhere else slashes and abrasions formed. Her clothing ripped with every forming cut, and she could only stare. _

_The screams stopped._

_The girl was too shocked to speak as she fell to her knees. Her hair cascaded down to curtain her face when she realized it was no longer a light brown like the figure who entered the castle before her, but a golden blonde. She stared at the strands in disbelief, beginning to come to grips with what was happening. She was reliving her brutal past, and she started shivering involuntarily. She felt hurt and scarred, and tears ran down her face rapidly, the shaking never ceasing. She stood up, and leaned against the wall, in emotional turmoil. Her blood stained the wall and dripped to the floor. The grey walls and floors turned black and red as she moved slowly toward a door that materialized in front of her, the plain white design somehow appealing as she desperately looked for an escape._

_As the blonde girl turned the handle, the world materialized into a dining room. She looked around and saw it had a large chandelier hanging from the tall ceiling, lighting up the large room. The table was also set with very fine china and food that looked very unfamiliar to her. She was about to step towards the table but was then interrupted by a slamming door. A ghostly dark figure was slowly making its way to another girl, who sat alone at the end of the filled table. _

_The girl saw herself across the room, unbroken and unchanged, her light brown locks flowing freely. She was staring in horror, remembering every detail of the scene. She choked back a sob, backing into a wall, and sliding down in a helpless heap. The girl stared, and sobbed silently, shaking as all of the fear and pain she felt back then rushed back to her. Her eyes remained wide open, the blue irises dull and full of pain and tears, watching her terrible past appear before her._

_The figure raised his arm and the other girl could only stare at him. Her other had the same blue irises, but still having a slight shine to them. Her older self ducked and got out of her chair, away from the figure's swinging hand. The figure only beamed with anger. _  
><em>"You little bitch!" yelled the man. <em>

_The blonde remembered her once confident and defiant actions, but they only made matters worse. Vaati, the man before her, wasn't one to beat around the bush with. It was one thing the girl learned the hard way._

_The girl watched as her younger reflection only smiled in reply. "What did I do this time? Did I accidentally spit in your drink? Oops. My bad." She brought her hand up to slap him in return for his failed attempt. Her smile grew wider as she admired the red mark on the side of his face._

_But that drove him over the edge. This man would not tolerate any rebellious actions against him. He believed himself the only one to run the show. _

"_I've had it to just about here with you lately," making his arm go up into the air to show his anger level. "First the snide comments, then back talking, continuously ignoring me, and now this!?" The hand in the air was then pointing to where the girl hit him in the face. _

"_It's only fair. You've hit me _many _times before. I figured I'd return the favor."_

_The blonde only looked on, watching her brunette counterpart. She remembered how it ended. And that many of the cuts that formed on her body were scars of this night. She closed her eyes, as she heard the scream, and the glass shattering._

_She felt the pain all around her body and sunk lower, hugging herself around the knees. She couldn't hear anything else going on, and she opened her eyes to find herself back in the hall, her blood still on the walls, and a shadow forming over the door she entered._

_Dragging herself down the hall, the girl came across another white entrance. Her crimson blood stained part of the door red as she turned the doorknob and walked into another materializing place._

_Running down another dreary, dimly lit hall was the brunette again. She limped and tried to ignore the injuries she got just a few nights prior. In the distance, she heard a laugh echoing down the hallway. She tried one door: locked. She tried another but to no avail. Again it was shut and bolted. Another laugh protruded from the darkness, sounding closer. The girl began to limp even more, turning left and right down each corridor._

_The blonde tried her best to follow her younger self, all the while trying to remember this forgotten night. She could barely even walk as she once again leaned on the wall, this time her blood fading it's trail as she moved. It was like she was never there as all of the pain from her previous memory subsided a little. _

_All of a sudden, the brunette was slammed against a wall. Panicked, she kicked and thrashed as her pursuer pinned her. She stopped, turned her head, and looked it in the eye. Vaati again. The other girl gasped as the memories of _this _night came flooding back again, while watching her brunette self._  
><em>"I've finally found you my little princess," said the man in a crazed voice, followed by a laugh you would hear from someone who had gone mad. <em>

"_W-well you aren't exactly-OW!" the girl tried to kick her way out of his grasp but he still held her tighter. "-my prince c-charming, are you?"_

_Oh really?" said Vaati, edging closer until their faces were only inches apart._

_The blonde began to cry out to the brown haired one pinned to the wall. _

"_R-run! Get out of there! Wh-what are you doing j-j-just standing there!? ZEMIRA RUN!" she screamed to herself. But to no avail because just as she stopped, her other being was thrown to the wall again and was slapped again._

"_RUN! DO SOMETHING!" she screamed again with tears streaking down her face. Zelda stumbled forward._

_The brunette laid there on the ground, motionless. Her eyes were wide open, a sea of endless tears running down her face._

_"ZEMIRA!" _

_The brunette tried to get up but the man pushed her to the ground again. She cried out in pain as her head hit the floor. _

_Vaati glanced at the girl on the floor with a disgusted look on his face but then smiled._

"_You better wake up from that stupid dream princess, because this-" he said laughing again "-this is your reality!"_

"_More like hell!" the brown haired girl spat in his face._

"_What?"_

"_You heard me!" she countered. _

"_What did you say to me, you pathetic human!?" shouted the enraged man._

_With a quick swipe he slapped the girl for the umpteenth time and with a quick swipe, flung her across the hallway, sending her crashing into a window._

"_NOOOOOO!" Zelda yelled, tears still coming out off her sore eyes. She then felt pain. Pain that reminded her so much more of that night. It felt as if thousands of needles were being pushed into her backside and arm. Both the blonde and brunette screamed in agony._

"_That's right! Scream! You are mine now! And you always will be!" Vaati yelled while walking closer to the crumpled up figure laying down in a bed of broken glass shards. _

_The brunette shut her eyes tightly, hoping, just hoping it wouldn't get any worse than this. That maybe one day she could truly stand up against him. To be free. But...that day never came..._

* * *

><p><em>The blonde had barely inched away from the room when her pain faded, but all the blood remained. It still trailed behind her, as she quickly ran down the hall, hearing all of her screams of the past. As she ran away from all of the unopened doors, she suddenly fell, and the screaming stopped. She was shaking and sobbing as she was stuck lying on the floor, small pools of red forming around her. <em>

_Her eyes were wide with fear, and the tears fell down her face once more. She couldn't move or breath, and an echoing voice appeared._

"_**Shattered glass is my instrument of choice,**_

_**as it crashes and shuts out your voice.**_

_**the blood it makes will drip on the floor,**_

_**And I love the glass even more.**_

_**The scars it made makes me smile,**_

_**and I'll laugh as your pain continues all the while.**_

_**Because now you have nowhere to run or to hide,**_

_**I've locked all the doors so you're trapped inside.**_

_**You'll never be free because you're always mine,**_

_**So say hello to fear and to happiness goodbye..."**_

_The scenery changed around the blonde girl and from the shadows a music box appeared. It played a sweet, sadistic tune, matching the man that had plagued her dreams. As the girl slowly rose up, to run away again, a hand closed over the music box's lid, cutting off the music. She fell back down, and saw his face once again._

"_**I found you, Princess."**_


	6. Chapter 5

**A/N: (L) Hello! Sorry this chapter took so long to get out. I mean, school got in the way, and then I was uninspired for a couple months after that.**

(S) Bonjour! (J'adore parler dans différentes langues!) Konichi wa! Nín hǎo! Hola! Hallo! :) What is up fellow earthlings? :D (We've had a French Exchange student over at our house, which makes Liz extremely jealous. So along with school, and out parents doing things for some Family fun, we've been swamped.)

**(L) Tu peux parler des langues différentes, mais je parle français comme un patron! ;) **

(S) *le dies* XD

**(L) I just love making you die from laughing. xD ( for those of you who cannot read/speak French: You may speak different languages, but I speak French like a boss) **

(S) xD Now onto the reviews! And I hope you enjoy this chapter! :D

**AngelicParadox-**** Yeah XD I guess you said all you can say lol. Oh yes, you speak the truth! Not a single word was changed! Lol. I think all of us were just awestruck at that... Seriously I can't believe that I -the girl who shrieks like a banshee at a spider -**-** could even write a sentence of that! **(S- I AM A WITNESS! She will legit shriek! And shake too...)** (L- Seriously? Did you have to say that? :P THAT SPIDER WAS FRIGGIN HUGE!) **(S- The spider is smaller then you are!) **(L- Yeah. And so is a grenade.) **

Bleachshowlover1- That's what we were going for! Scary and confusing XDD I'm really glad you like our writing! It definitely cheers me up to read reviews of people who enjoy reading what we write :) I hope you like this chapter too!

**Leila Editor-**** Omg! I can so relate! We should compare notes on the best ways to AVOID friction burns! XD Oh the chair! I have no idea why I suggested it to Silver. XD Though it seemed to have the desired effect! As for the dream, thanks for the compliments! ^.^ And no, actually those are not song lyrics... Silver and I were writing that together, and the second half of that section she came up with, and I added on with the shattered glass analogy. She said it would sound better if it came first and we changed a few words to make it flow. In short, we created a poem based on our nightmare. How this happened I have no idea, but I guess creepy music does things to you... O.o**

**(L) Thank you guys for reviewing! Hope you all like this chapter! ENJOY! ^-^**

* * *

><p><span>Lost and Broken<span>

Chapter Five

Both Sheik and Link were walking down the crowded street of Baazar Avenue. Still full of embarrassment from breaking a chair, Link almost falls on the ground.

"Whoa there _partner_!" said a laughing Sheik. "I don't think you want to break your arm along with your chair now do you?"

"Haha! Very funny Sheik," said an annoyed Link.

"Thinking of inappropriate things of Zelda, were you?"

"I don't know what you talking ab-"

Sheik stopped suddenly and put a finger on Link's lips.

"Shhh," she said in a low whisper. "You know it's true." She added in a wink.

With that, Sheik took off in the distance, running through a crowd of people in the direction of the furniture store. Link, now red faced and shocked, stood there as his co-worker vanished from his sight. With a roll of his eyes, Link started sprinting after her, a large smile on his face.

"You'd think we're little kids with the way we act around each other." Link muttered to himself and swerved through the crowd, a smirk forcing itself on his face that was unnoticed by others as he flew past them.

"Get back here Sheik!"

* * *

><p>A scream reverberated throughout the entire flat, echoing off the walls. Instantly gaining consciousness, Zelda woke up to hear herself crying out, but to deaf ears. Zelda was still in her bed, clutching her blankets in a deadly grip, her knuckles going white with exertion. Her heart was beating fast. Her cheeks were stained with the paths of tear drops as more fell from her eyes. She kept them closed, not willing to open them to see a figure looming over her paralyzed form.<p>

Eventually she forced herself to look at her arms and legs, searching for the crimson patterns that glass engraved into her skin. She only found the scars, unopened and healed, but they would never go away. She squeezed her eyes shut once more.

Her breathing was very ragged as she silently sobbed to herself. She was covered in sweat, and entangled in a sea of covers. She still couldn't bring herself to open her eyes, and she would most likely stay in a similar position for a while.

Zelda was glad that the hellish nightmare was over. But that was only the dream world. She still had to face her fears in the real world. She has to go through more denial, the loss of friends and loved ones, and face the one thing she hates the most: the unknown. And that could end in an unfriendly way.

It was about an hour Later when Zelda started to fully calm down. She couldn't bring herself to get out of bed just yet though, and Rinku was laying his head on her stomach. She petted him faintly, focusing on his steady breathing, the noise calming her down. Her breathing pattern was still too fast to be considered normal on all standards.

Then, her phone rang.

Zelda jumped from the noise that suddenly pierced the silence she was in. Her eyes looked towards the cause of the ringing and she stared at it with fear. She held her breath and tightly grabbed her covers near her in a fast motion, causing Rinku to become startled from the sudden noise and Zelda's quick action.

'_It couldn't be him... No it can't be him,'_ Zelda thought.

The phone continued to ring for what seemed like ages, until Zelda got up from her bed and saw the phone number that was calling.

Her heart still beating quickly, she breathed out when she saw the newly familiar number. Zelda grabbed the phone before it stopped ringing and hit the button to accept the call.

"H-hello?" Zelda said.

"Hello Zelda!" the voice of Sheik said merrily through the phone. "Link would like to apologize for not speaking to you directly, but he is currently trying to figure out how to build his new chair." Zelda could hear the laughter in Sheik's voice.

"I'm glad he got a new chair?" Zelda's statement ended up being a question.

"He is completely clueless," Sheik said still holding back some laughter. "Anyway, I just called to congratulate you on your new position! You'll be replacing me as Link's secretary!"

"R-really?" Zelda's eyes started to lighten, and she smiled ever so slightly. "But... why am I taking your position?" Zelda's head twisted into confusion.

"Oh, I'm being promoted to CFO of the record company. Link's last one recently retired and he only trusted me enough to fill this position. So I work alongside him now. I'm quite happy though, I like filling out extra paperwork on our company's finances." She paused. "Well, I just have a few questions for you."

"O-okay, what are they?" Zelda's small smile faded a little bit.

"It's just one question actually, would you like to come in today?"

"T-today?" Zelda's eyes widened. "I... I probably could."

"I'm sorry if this inconveniences you in any way Zelda, but we can't wait very long to get you settled. Link couldn't find any proper candidates for the job and it took such a long time to find someone he could work with. Now I'm set to take over the CFO's office, and he only just hired the new secretary, which is you. So we're in a bit of a rush to get you in. Again, I apologize."

"Oh," Zelda ran a hand through her hair and sighed quietly.

She considered trying to go to the workplace in her condition, but doubted she would do well being around others at the time. From just having that nightmare Zelda was still shaken up. Sitting down on her bed and crossing her legs off the side, Zelda thought about how she should go about answering Sheik.

'_I couldn't tell her that I had a nightmare, or that I don't want to go into work because of that. It would seem childish,' _Zelda thought.

Sheik cleared her throat on the other side of the phone waiting for her response.

Zelda thought about going in, finally settling on that being a bad idea. "Would it be alright if I just saw you later about the paperwork? Maybe tomorrow?"

"Seems fine to me! I'll see you at eleven tomorrow then? We could go to lunch together if you're up to it," Zelda was sure Sheik was smiling as she talked.

"Umm … yes, okay. I can do that." Zelda said, trying to assure herself that she wouldn't be as flustered and afraid as she was now. "I-I want to apologize if you really needed me to come in..." Zelda didn't say anything to further explain why she wasn't going to leave whatever safety her flat presented.

"It's perfectly fine, Zelda. We can handle one more day without you. Besides, I'm sure you have a personal reason for waiting. Well, I better get back in Link's office. He's probably slacking off, as per usual."

"Okay, have a good day Sheik," Zelda let herself smile, even though Sheik couldn't see it.

"You too, Zelda."

Zelda put down the phone and moved to her small kitchen, sinking into one of her old wooden chairs. Hugging herself, she sighed, and willed herself to stop thinking of the past once again.

"Why can't I just let go?" She called out to no one, her tears falling in the silence she received as a reply.

**xXx**

Zelda stared at the building again. She wasn't sure she was ready to handle having a job—though it was more so the thought that she would have to around people, be out in the open world.

_Just walk through the door. Go up the stairs. Say hi. You can do it. You've done it before_. The hopeful voice in her head made an appearance. Her conscience must have trusted the people she met in that building.

"Here goes…" Zelda still hesitated going up to the door. She walked through it, but not without a lingering fear of the unknown. Idly, she got into the building.

Before all this, before she had met her husband, she was a strong individual. She started to remember that, however slightly. She could make her own decisions now. But she wouldn't allow herself to feel that she had control. Not yet. There was still a lot at stake for her. Her inner confidence sparkled again; But not enough for her to notice it herself.

The thing she was aware of, was the lingering feeling that someone could actually care for her. Link and Sheik seemed to—if only because they needed her to do things for them. It couldn't be more than that.

Vaguely, she registered an elevator dinging. She stepped forward.

"Zelda!" Sheik ran up and actually hugged Zelda. Like they were old friends.

"Um. Hi." She felt extraordinarily uncomfortable, maybe even undeserving of such a nice gesture.

"Sorry. You looked really distracted and sad. I wanted to fix it," she said with a warm smile. Zelda thought maybe she did fix it, at least while she was here.

"I-I appreciate you're con-concern." She couldn't help the stutter. It crept up after all of her fights against it.

"Alright," Sheik seemed to want to fix the stutter too, but she did not comment on it. "So I've made the arrangements for lunch. I trust Telma's is okay with you?"

"I'm sure it's uh… fine. I haven't actually been there before." Zelda attempted to smile as she talked, but it only appeared strained. She did like Sheik, she was friendly and clearly understanding. Zelda appreciated her sense of humor as well. It was displayed whenever she talked, you could really hear her smiling and some untold story she wanted to share.

"What? You haven't?" Sheik stated with mild shock. "Well then, I guess it's a good thing I made plans to go. Because anyone who lives here does need to know Telma. She's intimidating, but a good confident- an even better chef."

"I-I'm sure I would like her." Zelda indulged Sheik with a small voice. She did admit to herself that she could be at least slightly excited for this. She was still scared. It was unknown if someone out in the city was looking for her. She had to remind herself that she was now a blonde; bangs covered a part of her face, and she had invested in color contacts. Only people who were really close to her could actually recognize her. But the thought still didn't really help. She was unused to the feeling of freedom.

"Yes I'm sure you will too. Now then, I need to go over a few things with you." Sheik pulled Zelda out of her thoughts and into her old "office". "As you already know, this is the outside extension of Link's office. It is your area, you can actually do quite a bit with decorations, as you grow used to working here. I would seriously recommend asking link if you could paint the walls a new color. Honestly, this institutional beige color is not calming—it's a boring sleep zone." She rolled her eyes to emphasize her dislike of it. "Link wouldn't let me change it because he didn't see a need for me to, but I'm sure he'd let you get away with anything you wanted." She actually winked at Zelda—and Zelda had absolutely no clue what she was suggesting.

"I… I actually sort of like it, though I-I guess it could be…. um…. brighter?" Zelda was trying to make a real conversation as she learned about her job.

"You don't have to decide right now. Just think about it as you work over next week or so, then let him know if you want to change it. Anyway, your duties are really simple. Well… no keeping Link awake while he is in his office is somewhat difficult. He does his job well, but he needs more focus. Honestly, the most work you have to do is making sure he actually does his job and fills out the paperwork required. Though, some of that will be done by you and you just need him to sign a few things. Also, in the morning he appreciates coffee. As he is usually a bit late, he forgets to grab some. It's not a requirement if you find you're running late either, we do have a coffee pot here. It's just the thought- and honestly the better flavor selection. His favorite is caramel...anything caramel."

Sheik paced back and forth occasionally glancing at Zelda. Then she paused mid step and turned directly at Zelda before giving off a light laugh.

"Wow. I just gave you a mini-speech about coffee. And that is something unrequired. You know, if I get to over-explaining, and I sound like the adults on Charlie Brown you can speak up. I don't mind." She laughed aloud at that. Zelda found herself giving out a small giggle as well.

"And here I thought Sheik was the hard worker around here." Link appeared in the room, frowning playfully. "It looks as though you were gossiping, whilst I was being productive."

"As much as I could believe that, it is a rarity for me not needing push you into doing something. Anyway, I was explaining to Zelda the job that is required of her. Nothing like what I had to do. Which was basically help you run the company behind the scenes." Sheik was very honest- though a little too open. Zelda found herself wanting to be Sheik's friend more than anything. She still was not sure how to approach such a thing.

"Well hello Zelda." Link smiled brightly, running a hand on the back of his neck. He looked a little self-conscious.

"H-hello" Zelda's voice was still small. There was a silence.

"Is it time for lunch now?" Sheik asked, throwing something into the conversation. She looked vaguely annoyed.

"Oh. Um. Yes. Yes we could do lunch." Link was pulled out of some sort of thoughts. Zelda wondered what he was thinking.

* * *

><p>She was beautiful. That was the only thing on his mind. He completely forgot about the paperwork on his desk that he told himself to finish before taking a break. Actually, no… it was not forgotten. He was just avoiding it to spend more time with Zelda. '<em>Ha. Now that's not a cliché.'<em>

"Did you decide on a place?" Link asked.

"Yes. Telma's. Zelda hasn't been there yet."

"Well it is a little surprising, but then again she hasn't been in the city long at all." Link secretly loved the fact that he could show her a lot of his favorite places, and most likely they would all surprise her. He made a mental note to ask her if she needed to know where anything was. He even dared to hope she got lost often so he could have some excuse to be around her. Sheik was right in one respect—Zelda did invade most of his thoughts.

"And," Zelda began, "Thank you for the job Link." Zelda gave a small smile in Link's direction. He returned the favor and nodded his head.

"Well, I don't know about you two, but I'm starving," Sheik said. She left the room and Zelda and Link quickly followed suit.

As they walked through the halls, they stopped at an elevator.

'_Sheik must have already went down,' _Link thought. He pressed the button to go down and tapped his foot as they waited to hear the ding of the elevator.

"So Telma's is a restaurant," Link began. "Well, of course it's a restaurant… and a bar. There is also that."

Zelda smiled and quickly looked to the ground. She covered her mouth with her hand and Link was just able look over at Zelda to see her reaction and got a glimpse at her pearly white teeth. He really liked to see her smile. It felt like it was natural expression for her face. Link thought of himself to be a natural kind of guy, but Zelda, she was something else to him. He almost felt sad to see her constantly avoiding eye contact, but then again, he only knew her for a short amount of time. Maybe she was simply the nervous type.

"Oh good," Zelda said with a cheerful tone despite looking away, her smile vanished. But why did it?

Link cleared his throat. "Anyways, it's a very nice place. You should like it."

The ding of the elevator went off and the two stepped inside.

Zelda hugged her arms and kept to the far side of the elevator. Link pressed another button and they stood in silence listening to the elevator music play. Link was about to say more, but Zelda looked lost in thought. Her eyes looked duller than what he remembered and she looked like she was shivering.

Link wanted to reach out to her, but his mind flashed back to the moment they first met. He knocked her over, and she acted as though it was her fault, even flinching at his motions to help her. Her feelings were closed up and Link desperately wanted to see her open up in the smallest way, just to know she was okay.

Upon reaching the lobby, Zelda rushed out and walked outside to Sheik, who was probably already calling Talon. He slowly walked out into the fall air and joined them. Link thought he heard the word limousine as he got closer. But why was that even necessary?

"...of course. Thanks, as always Talon." Sheik ended her conversation with Link's chauffeur.

Link stood next to Zelda, further away from Sheik. He looked at her once more. White mist puffed out of her mouth and her rosy cheeks matched her pink lips. Her hands were as they were before. Each arm was grasping the other and her knuckles looked white from the tension.

"Sheik. Did you seriously ask for the limo?" Link rubbed the back of his neck nervously.

"Only the best." Sheik winked.

As the limo approached the trio, they all climbed inside. Sheik was being her normal self and Zelda and Link kept quiet. Zelda managed some small talk along the ride and Link every so often kept his ear out for her voice.

"Here we are." Talon called from the driver's seat.

"Alright. Good. That's good." Link said. '_Why do I sound so out of place?'_

He stepped out of the limo, wondering why Sheik even sent for it. He'd make a point to ask later. He stopped in front of the door, holding his hand out to help Zelda step out as well. It turned out Sheik stepped out first.

"Please stop being awkward and impress the girl," Sheik whispered into his ear. Link playfully glared in response.

Then Zelda had taken his hand, which made his whole arm tingle with some kind of electricity. Zelda looked as though she felt it too, or at least she noticed the small amount of surprise lining link's eyes. Somehow she looked, afraid. Link then realized he was staring into her purple eyes again.

"Sorry. I didn't mean to stare…" He paused for a moment in his speech. "I could have sworn your eyes were blue." He helped her out of the limo as he spoke.

"I. I um, I like the color purple… so sometimes I wear color contacts." Zelda seemed to be giving him some kind of a half-truth.

"Oh. Well now that I think about it, you must've been wearing them at Romani's." Link smiled at her. "It's a shame though, your eyes are really the most beautiful shade of blue."

"T-Thank you" At this point, Link sensed Zelda tense up even more that she had in the elevator earlier. He finally let go of her hand.

"For the love of- Link could you please stop daydreaming and walk up the steps." Sheik called.

Link complied with a sigh and followed Sheik and Zelda into the bar.

When the trio walked in, they were immediately greeted by loud music. The smell of alcohol and food filled Link's nose and

Sheik walked up to the the bar and Telma quickly rushed into a hug.

"Yo, Sheik!" the woman greeted. Telma was a big woman both in build and in personality. When she talked, you could hear her from across the room and gave a smile to just about anyone. Telma and Sheik were known to be best of friends so whenever Sheik came down, she gave Sheik, or Link even, a cut off of the bill.

Telma gave a hearty laugh and then returned to talk to others sitting at the countertop.

"Telma says our bill is on the house," Sheik said with a smile. "Our table is that empty on there in the corner."

Zelda looked shocked to hear that the meals would be paid off, but she also looked relieved.

'_Is she really only shy? Or is there something hiding behind those eyes of hers?'_

Soon enough, Link, Sheik, and Zelda got settled, looked at a menu they were given by a waiter, and began to decide on their entree.

"I know what I'm getting, "Sheik said.

"What's that?" Link asked. He set his menu down and glanced up at Sheik. "Your usual?"

Sheik nodded and then took a sip of her water. "How about you Zelda?"

Zelda jumped in surprise. Her hair fell in front of her face and she pushed it back behind her ears. "I, um, don't know. I usually don't-"

Sheik looked at Zelda with wide eyes and Link looked puzzled as well.

"If you'll excuse me," Zelda said, quickly pushing her chair back looking around for a place to go.

"Link I'll be right back," Sheik said, and went over to Zelda.

Link watched them as they walked off to the ladies' restroom. Just as they disappeared, the waiter returned.

"It seems like the majority of your party is away, would you like me to come back?" the waiter said. The man cleared his throat and repeated his question.

"Uh, yeah. Sorry." Link didn't bother to look at the man. He was too distracted by Zelda's reaction. His mood fell as he processed all of the little signs she was sending out. Something, or someone had shaped her into the scared girl he has been interacting with, and whatever it was made him angry. It was a feeling he was generally unfamiliar with, but he couldn't really deny his thoughts.


End file.
